BDL head Riad Salameh and his former assistant Marianne Hoayek. (Credit: archives Le Commerce du Levant)
France Friday filed money laundering charges against a former assistant of Riad Salameh, the governor of Lebanon's central bank and a subject of judicial probes at home and abroad.
France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in March 2022, in a move linked to a probe into Salameh's wealth.
Salameh stands accused of having amassed a fortune during some three decades in the job. Once hailed as the guardian of Lebanon's financial stability, he increasingly is being blamed for the country’s financial meltdown.
Many say he helped precipitate the crisis. Salameh's term ends in July.
A judicial source said Marianne Hoayek, 43, was questioned Friday in Paris and placed under investigation for criminal conspiracy and money laundering.
"Marianne Hoayek contests these accusations and will provide proof that these funds came mainly from donations from her father," a rich businessman now deceased, her lawyer Mario Stasi told AFP.
Salameh, 72, denies any wrongdoing and says he built his fortune when he worked in US investment bank Merrill Lynch before becoming the governor of Lebanon's Central Bank in 1993.
Judicial authorities in France and Germany issued arrest warrants for Salameh over accusations including money laundering and fraud; Interpol subsequently issued Red Notices targeting him.
Not an international arrest warrant per se, an Interpol Red Notice asks international authorities to provisionally detain individuals pending possible extradition or other legal action.
European investigators questioned Salameh in Beirut, also hearing from others including Hoayek and Salameh's brother Raja and central bank audit firms.
Lebanon does not extradite its nationals, but Salameh could go on trial in Lebanon if local judicial authorities decide the accusations against him are founded, an official previously told AFP.
Following the Red Notices, a local judge questioned and released Salameh pending investigation, while confiscating his French and Lebanese passports and banning him from traveling.
France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in March 2022, in a move linked to a probe into Salameh's wealth.
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